Category: Blog

For Ecommerce, Turkey & Tinsel Start in August

Posted on by annaktaylor
Christmas balls and shells on sand with summer sea background

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success”  – Alexander Graham Bell

For many retailers, the holiday season dominates their sales generation. And as all commerce indicators have shown, online buying will continue to soar – most especially through mobile devices.

To effectively capture new and returning visitors, and expand your market reach, strategic planning and execution must start now.

From organic ranking for unique search terms to multi-channel buying journeys and social story telling, there is a long Santa list of tactical efforts to be ready for 4Q. Here are a few considerations to get your team on the Online Sales Sleigh!

(1) Set your seasonal budget and tactical plan to increase ad spend, promoting the brand’s value and quality, both of which people pay attention to when buying gifts.

(2) Perform comprehensive technology and interface diagnostics of your ecommerce platform and mobile app – identify any weaknesses with core web vitals, site performance, usability, and visual experience.

(3) Further optimize web pages with critical technical SEO – schema markup, unique titles, meta data, tags, core metrics, use of interstitials, crawl errors, internal and external links, etc.

(4) Consider distinctive packaging with a holiday-themed message card inside every shipment.

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Today’s Digital Marketing – Pointers and Priorities

Posted on by annaktaylor
digital marketing strategies

 

OKR. Objectives and Key Results must be a marketers ‘North Star’ at every stage, including research & planning, production, measuring and testing, and iterative experiments.

Have clearly defined targets (audience segments, metrics, messaging, experiences) and a singular focus (specific offer, incentive, product line promotion, etc.)

Create well-defined projects and apply agile methodology and fluid execution practices.

Relevancy and Value. Without it, you’re just noise.

There is a psychology to marketing. Pay attention to intent, context, triggers, and intrinsic motivation – from your audience, untapped markets, stakeholders, team members, executive leaders… even your competitors.

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Performance Metrics in Digital Terms

Posted on by annaktaylor
performance-metrics-data

 

Often the data points capturing the most attention are sales, margins, opportunity win ratio, and inventory.

A deeper dive into a few other digital stats will help a business in its online position and performance.

CAC vs. CLV

Customer Acquisition Cost is a must, especially in comparison to the Customer Lifetime Value. Set those side by side on your reporting dashboard to closely monitor your investment in obtaining a new customer along with the long-term ROI. 

Visits and CR

Website traffic is appealing, yet only meaningful if you experience a steady rise in the Conversion Rate. The effectiveness of your brand’s online experience is reflected in conversions, which is directly impacted by messaging, usability, visual appeal, and triggers, all which must be compelling and actionable.

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Digital In”Sites” for Design

Posted on by annaktaylor
forward-digital-design

 

A well-architected, high functioning application framework is the foundation for an effective website. Once the right platform is in place, set your design strategy based on the business objectives (i.e., revenue, net profits, market penetration, new opportunities, incremental sales etc.) and digital objectives (i.e., ecommerce, subscribers, macro and micro conversions, traffic, referrals, brand engagement etc.)

There are several design options, most especially for mobile, including adaptive, responsive, fluid, parallax, dynamic and more.

Site designers must be tactical in the following:

  • How scripts will run
  • Optimizing & minimizing images
  • SEO, meta, and schema
  • Caching
  • Proper CSS and code configuration
  • Crawlability and indexability

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Marketing Projects – Achieve Execution Excellence in 10 Steps

Posted on by annaktaylor
marketing-digital-projects

 

As with most aspects of business operations, marketing is evolving to align with shifting customer interests. New methods are becoming today’s best practice. Novel and disruptive ideas are resulting in innovative campaign concepts.

Following conventional paths will no longer yield the expected ROI nor build brand equity with the target audience. The adoption of digital tools and technologies is key to the advancement of performance. 

Here are critical steps to help you and your team perform projects that will have impact with customers and the bottom line.

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Ideation for Innovative Strategies & Problem-Solving [Part 2]

Posted on by annaktaylor
problem solving

 

Part II: Problem-Solving

Talent comes in many forms. One of the most powerful is problem-solving.  It benefits the team (smoother execution), leadership (fewer headaches and distractions), customers (greater service satisfaction) and the bottom line (efficiency reduces costs).

“Problem” is a broad term encompassing an unplanned event, miscommunication, technology jam, team conflict, and trouble in execution. A prominent cause of project failure or delay is the lack of timely, practical, and well-developed solutions to unexpected problems.

People who are skilled in problem-solving have undoubtedly learned from prior experiences. They know how to look at challenges objectively, remove sentiment and emotions from the process, hold themselves fully accountable, and focus solely on a smart solution path.

Insider tip:  Start by changing the word “solve”.  When contending with a problem, replace solve with detection, exploration, modeling, experimentation, and accuracy analysis.

Troubleshooting also requires being unconstrained by allowing others to influence and persuade your thinking.

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Ideation for Innovative Strategies & Problem-Solving [Part 1]

Posted on by annaktaylor
innovation-ideation-strategies

 

Part I: Innovation

Global players and a rapidly changing digital landscape are shifting how companies must operate to be profitable and experience sustainable growth.  Markets are saturated with competition. And the internet as well as social media have entirely altered how businesses engage and interact with their customers.

To achieve tangible results, organizations have to be brave by tackling challenges and transforming their traditional tactics.  It’s smart to partner with digital experts and highly creative contractors to guide your team through the actions, techniques, and practices that will drive positive outcomes and measurable change.

Start by telling the team – “We’re breaking out of the status quo.”

Every strategy must have business alignment, engaged team members, and focused execution. Your aim is to position your company to innovate and pursue effective strategies.

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Profile of an Ordering Portal – Key Features & Capabilities

Posted on by annaktaylor
b2b order portal banner for digital commerce

 

Many B2B operators, dealers, and sellers utilize an ordering portal to achieve their business objective. The demand by customers has risen sharply for an easy-to-use, highly intuitive platform with the means to search their product catalog, place and track orders, and manage invoices, payments and account information.

There are a wide range of ordering portal solutions on the market today, claiming to offer an all-in-one user friendly, seamless solution.  Truth is, each B2B entity has unique requirements based on their business model, customer interactions, catalog and pricing structure, and back-end system.

The features of the portal, the size and condition of the data sets, specific customer needs, as well as its technical design, must be the drivers for platform selection. That means starting with the scope of capabilities and catalogs, and complexity of the technology ecosystem.

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Digital Marketing for 2021 – Engagement

Posted on by annaktaylor
digital-engagement-tree

 

Every brand must craft their digital axiom of excellence. Marketing in 2021 demands transformation and overcoming blind spots. Marketers must take an agile approach and embrace center-points of change, best practices in process, and an open lens on audience behaviors.  

As you move into the new year, let’s polish your plan by setting profit-bearing objectives that will gain more attention, penetrate markets, incite actions, increase revenue, and leave your mark on the industry. This 2021 groundwork series starts with:

Engagement

Develop your road map from the following;

  • Breadth and Depth
  • Who, What, Where, How and Why

 

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Innovate, Evolve & Grow Workshop – 3 Day Action Plan

Posted on by annaktaylor
innovate workshop think plan act

 

[Day One]

Refresh the Core Competencies and the Value Proposition

  • distinguish your brand from the competition
  • consider messaging that resonates in the digital ecosystem

Blend your Mission and Vision into a story

  • share socially, on your website, in a video and organically

Assess new and future Macro Conditions – PESTEL

  • Political
  • Economical
  • Social
  • Technological
  • Environmental
  • Legal

Evaluate Supply Chain

  • sourcing goods and services
  • suppliers and procurement
  • production and processes
  • sales and fulfillment
  • inventory management
  • customer satisfaction

Redesign Production for Agility, Ideation and Innovation

  • introduce new ways of thinking and leading for stakeholders
  • recognize that changing mindsets and processes takes time
  • set goals with incremental advancements

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